{"id":134360,"date":"2022-04-01T07:00:03","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T12:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=134360"},"modified":"2022-04-01T01:25:23","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T06:25:23","slug":"adrians-adam-krug-named-uscho-d-iii-coach-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2022\/04\/01\/adrians-adam-krug-named-uscho-d-iii-coach-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Adrian’s Adam Krug named USCHO D-III Coach of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Adam Krug guided Adrian to the program”s first national championship this season. Photo courtesy of Adrian Athletics<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Adam Krug remembers the opener against Utica a little more than five months ago and how his shorthanded team battled through two overtimes on the road only to fall 3-2.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There was still one more game to go that Saturday on Halloween, and the Bulldogs, missing some of their top players because of COVID protocol, found a way to grind out a 4-3 win and a series split.<\/span><\/p>\n

No one knew at the time, but it was about to be the start of a memorable run of 31 consecutive wins that would end with Adrian (31-1) topping Geneseo 5-2 to win the national championship for the first time in program history.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur group was demoralized by Covid. We had like 11 guys or something like that in protocol,\u201d Krug said. \u201cFor those guys to rally together and figure out a way to win was big. That win really set us up. If this group didn\u2019t believe then, it believed now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Krug would guide his team through a challenging schedule on its way to a national title, much of the season carrying the weight of being the top-ranked team in the nation, and for that success, he has been the USCHO NCAA Division III Coach of the Year.<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019s honored by the recognition, but knows coaching a team to a title isn\u2019t all on him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat that says to me is we had group all in on the vision,\u201d Krug said. \u201cMy assistant coach, Adam Phillips, is the best assistant in country. He makes things around here run on daily basis, doing a bunch of dirty work, doing things I can\u2019t because we have a small staff. It\u2019s a group effort. I get my name on the award, but I really appreciate staff and the players.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Krug played at Adrian. He was there when the program began more than a decade ago. He took the head coaching job in 2014 and hoped to carry on the tradition that had already been established.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was here in 07-08 as a player. I remember us starting out with a lot of wins and making a lot of noise as the new kids on the block,\u201d Krug said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have the AQ at the time in the old MCHA, but those teams were right there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Including the 2008-09 team that Krug played on. It went 28-1-1 and won 27 consecutive games.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat team was the best one I was a part of as a player,\u201d Krug said. \u201cWe beat Neuman and that team won the NCAA championship that season. The goal from day one in this program was always to win a national championship. This one stems back 15 years in my opinion.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Krug said the fact that his team was able to play games last season when a lot of programs didn\u2019t amid the COVID-19 pandemic helped set the stage for this run. The Bulldogs went 16-6-1, with the schedule including games against Division I opponents Bowling Green and Lake Superior State.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were fortunate to play as many games as we did. It allowed us to get work in, and the experience of playing was invaluable,\u201d Krug said. \u201cWhen the guys got here in the fall when practice started, to see them out there, you felt this group was special.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The team was relentless with its forecheck, according to Krug, and the depth of this team was vital to its success.<\/span><\/p>\n

Focus was also crucial. A lot of people outside the program talked about the streak, often in the media. Krug said there were parents who pulled him to the side once and joked that Adrian might want to lose one here at some point to shake things up.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the Bulldogs never lost.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur guys did a great job staying in the moment,\u201d Krug said. \u201cAnd then we reached the point of no return. We had two games against Aurora, a top 15 team, and then we had to play St. Norbert to win the NCHA. And then it was the playoffs. There was never a time where we could get tripped up at that point that wouldn\u2019t hurt us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Adrian won the NCHA crown and then marched through the playoffs, scoring five or more goals in every game on the road to history.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat celebration was different than any other,\u201d Krug said. \u201cTo get the trophy that 83 teams were playing for at the start of the season was special. The guys didn\u2019t rush to get through the celebration. Each guy had his moment with the trophy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For Krug, getting a championship means a little more to him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing an alum, it does make it extra special,\u201d Krug said. \u201cThe support from the school and alums has been great.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Krug wasn\u2019t ready to talk potential repeat quite yet, but he does know the potential is there for another successful season. For now, its all about enjoying this title.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re appreciating this one because we don\u2019t know when the next one will be. We know how hard this is to achieve,\u201d Krug said. \u201cBut I\u2019ll tell ya, it\u2019s not lost upon us that we have a pretty good roster coming back.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adam Krug remembers the opener against Utica a little more than five months ago and how his shorthanded team battled through two overtimes on the road only to fall 3-2.\u00a0 There was still one more game to go that Saturday on Halloween, and the Bulldogs, missing some of their top players because of COVID protocol, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":134361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[820],"coauthors":[821],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAdrian's Adam Krug named USCHO D-III Coach of the Year - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Adam Krug remembers the opener against Utica a little more than five months ago and how his shorthanded team battled through two overtimes on the road\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134360\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Adrian's Adam Krug named USCHO D-III Coach of the Year - College Hockey | USCHO.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Adam Krug remembers the opener against Utica a little more than five months ago and how his shorthanded team battled through two overtimes on the road\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134360\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"College Hockey | USCHO.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OfficialUSCHO\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-01T12:00:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-01T06:25:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/ADR6134-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brian Lester\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@USCHO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@USCHO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brian Lester\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2022\/04\/01\/adrians-adam-krug-named-uscho-d-iii-coach-of-the-year\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2022\/04\/01\/adrians-adam-krug-named-uscho-d-iii-coach-of-the-year\/\",\"name\":\"Adrian's Adam Krug named USCHO D-III Coach of the Year - College Hockey | USCHO.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2022\/04\/01\/adrians-adam-krug-named-uscho-d-iii-coach-of-the-year\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2022\/04\/01\/adrians-adam-krug-named-uscho-d-iii-coach-of-the-year\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/ADR6134-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-01T12:00:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-01T06:25:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e4f8b63db8eb234f6bf20426e8e69119\"},\"description\":\"Adam Krug remembers the opener against Utica a little more than five months ago and how his shorthanded team battled through two overtimes on the road\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2022\/04\/01\/adrians-adam-krug-named-uscho-d-iii-coach-of-the-year\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2022\/04\/01\/adrians-adam-krug-named-uscho-d-iii-coach-of-the-year\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2022\/04\/01\/adrians-adam-krug-named-uscho-d-iii-coach-of-the-year\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/ADR6134-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/ADR6134-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Adam Krug guided Adrian to the program''s first national championship this season. 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